Karur Stampede: Organisers Planned Delay Of Vijay’s Arrival To Show Strength, Say Police

Chennai: The organisers of the fateful September 27 meeting of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam at Karur, in which 41 people were killed following a crowd crush, had “deliberately planned and delayed” the arrival of the party founder and actor Vijay, the FIR booked by the Karur Town Police has said.

According to the FIR, in which the party’s general secretary ‘Bussy’ Anand, joint general secretary C T R Nirmal Kumar and Karur unit district secretary Mathiazhagan have been cited as accused, by 10 am people had started arriving at Velusamypuram, the venue where Vijay was to address them. This was because the party had announced he will speak at noon.

However, in reality, the organisers had sought permission from the police for conducting the meeting between 3 pm and 10 pm. “The organisers deliberately planned and delayed the arrival of Vijay at Karur by four hours with the intention of exhibiting their political strength. The crowd, which waited for several hours, was fatigued,” it said. Vijay entered Karur district only around 4.45 pm and thereafter he indulged in a road show sans permission, causing traffic jam and violating conditions. He reached the Muniappan Koil junction at around 6 pm. And thereafter his caravan was was taken on the wrong side of the carriageway to reach Velusamypuram at 7 pm.

Contrary to the party’s communication to the police that it anticipated a crowd of 10,000, the actual turnout was 27,000. According to the FIR, though the Deputy Superintendent of Police and jurisdictional Inspector advised the accused that such a large gathering, who can’t be controlled by the 500 police personnel on bandobust duty, could cause congestion and loss of life, the organisers paid no heed. They did not regulate the crowd.

Meanwhile, the Namakkal police registered a separate FIR against ‘Bussy’ Anand and others for delaying Vijay’s arrival at an earlier venue on the same day causing many to faint.

Separately, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the Government would soon frame guidelines for political parties and organisations for holding public meetings based on the recommendations of the Justice Arun Jagadeesan Commission and holding consultations on it. Meanwhile, three persons were arrested for spreading false propaganda about the tragedy on social media.